Some cultural institutions outlive their original purpose even those that begin with worthwhile goals and solid foundations. One example of that is NBC's "Saturday Night Live," a weekly American television mainstay that I grew up loving for its mostly hilarious skits and memorable hosts/musical guests --and, yeah, political commentary mixed in with humor.
It was birthed on Oct. 11, 1975, at the close of the Seventies, and at a time when it was standard for variety/talk shows -- like "The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson" -- to run 90 minutes. SNL is an orphan in the second decade of ... whatever someone decides to call the decade from 2021 to 2029. No one else produces a program in this format, officially; although, one could make an argument that with Jimmy Fallon behind the host's desk, the NBC weeknight jewel has swung back a little to resemble a variety show. Of course, it does not go out over the airwaves live.
WATCH: 'SNL' Brings Home the Laughs With Skit Showing Trump, Biden Meet-Up at White House
Regardless, the sketch comedy show is celebrating 50 years of broadcasting (for the math-centric people in the audience, it was delayed by a year because of COVID--and this week does not actually fall into, well, the fall of 2025). And we can all join in the fun this week. More on that later.
On Friday, my colleague at sister site Hot Air, Ed Morrissey, proved--even if he did it accidentally--that "Saturday Night Live" continues to hold sway in our daily lives. Check out his story's headline:
If anyone does not catch the reference, think of one of the most successful movie franchises to spring from the producer/genius known as Lorne Michaels. Yeah, the one emblazoned on the top of his article:
'SNL' Weekend Update Anchor Dropped an OJ Joke That Would Make Norm Macdonald Proud
Another happy harbinger of this appeared on a sort of unlikely place this week: During a segment on a morning TV talk show. The segment, from the newly-minted "Today's Jenna & Friends" (the fourth hour of NBC's "Today" show, in the lineage of the same show formerly co-hosted by Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb), Jenna Bush Hager and guest co-host/SNL alumna Amy Poehler "face off" in a game while in a two-shot and sitting behind a news desk.
Watch:
Readers, it gave me flashbacks--in a good way. Few of the "co-anchor" pairings on SNL have been better than Tina Fey and Poehler. Fight me.
Back to the present. The folks at NBC are describing this as "a celebratory weekend," which includes a streaming concert (Friday on Peacock), the show's first-ever episode airing on Saturday night (tonight) in place of a new episode (NBC), then "culminating in a live primetime special" (Sunday on both NBC and Peacock).
I wonder if we'll see one or both of two underappreciated short-timers in the show's history--Robert Downey Jr. and '80s John Hughes film regular, Anthony Michael Hall.
Hall holds the distinction of being the youngest-ever cast member of "Saturday Night Live":
Hall joined the cast of Saturday Night Live (SNL) during its 1985–86 season at the age of 17. He was, and remains, the youngest cast member in the show's history...Hall had admired the show and its stars as a child, but he found the SNL environment to be far more competitive than he had imagined.
The actor told Washington Post readers during a 2001 "Live Online" Q&A:
"It was a dream come true because I grew up like many people a huge fan of the show and all of its stars. I was truly in a state of shock for one month leading up to the taping of the first show."
He added that "[he will] always be proud of the fact that [he] was a part of its history."
RDJ, like Hall, was fired at the end of his first season. I think that kid's got a bright future, if he plays his cards right, you know?
Speaking of former "SNL" troupe alums, this guy on social media thinks people should tune in and celebrate along with some of the best to do it:
If you can't read the post, the inimitable Mr. Ackroyd writes:
Cracking a Head with pride at having been a co-founder of SNL along with everyone we were together with in those four years, five decades ago. This telecast is as historical as the next moon landing. Comedy stars of our age all gathered under the aegis of America’s greatest living impresario, my boss Lorne Michaels. People it’s friggin’ Holy!!
Do as you like; I'm going to start diving into memories of the show's good times a little early.
UPDATE: Since there are many eras of SNL, this musical skit might be more to some readers' taste. Enjoy!
